A Quest For Patronage

In our preliminary research, we noticed that the book, Heroologia Anglica written by Henry Holland, categorizes three different classes of people in sixteenth and seventeenth century England: the royal and noble classes, military commanders, and the scholastic priesthood. Through examination of this organization and the dedicatory epistle to King James I, we speculate that Holland published the book in search of patronage from the upper classes as a means to gain popularity and wealth. As the title suggests, not one Roman Catholic individual makes an appearance throughout the entire work. Elizabeth I and Jane Grey are the only women presented in the book. This suggests that Holland aimed for his Protestant leaders for patronage because Queen Mary of Scots, a Roman Catholic, is not included. Aforementioned, Holland made the dedicatory epistle to James I, who wore the crown at the time. Our research group plans to strengthen our argument through secondary sources about the author and the work itself